Locking device



March 9, 1954 C, F E GQQS 2,671,354

LOCKING DEVICE Filed July 7, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet l March 9, 1954 c. F.E. Goos 2,671,354

LOCKING DEVICE Filed July 7, 195o s sheets-sheet 2 C. F. E. GOOS LOCKINGDEVICE March 9, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed July 7, 1950 'Immun INVENTORPatented Mar. 9, 1954 LQCKING DEVICE Carlos Federico Enrique Goos,Buenos Aires, Ar-

gentina, assigner to Birome Sociedad Anonima, Comercial E Industrial,Buenos Aires, Argentina Application July '1, 1'950, Serial No. 172,565

GClaims. l

This invention rel'ates to locking devices, and'. more particularly to anovel locking mechanism so combined with means having. a differentresponse to successive effects, as to assume an automatic character.

Many devices have been proposed heretofore for similar purposes whichare generally efficient' in operation, but inasmuch as in most casesthey are based on hooks the release of which requires actions oppositeto the locking action, this necessitates' an alternative operation withspeci-al releasing members which are generally complicated, particularlyin devices intended to be operated with only one hand.

Since the most practical solution resides in a single control,experiments were made with some devi-ces based on push-buttons combinedwith stops capable of being released by a repeated' deep pushing action.This may be easily carried: out, but inasmuch as it operates with thintongues in combination with slidable rings requiring` a certainaccuratenessfor the operation thereof, in practice it will not respondin a fully satisfactory manner, since it is subject to failure.

The above drawbacks are overcome by means of they device of thisinvention, which comprises a slider urged towards the inoperativeposition by a spring and governed by a pin inserted in a guide formed bytwo mainbranches` joined together into a closed circuit and havingseveral sides so that in one direction the pin may reach a` lockingpoint without the thrust in the same direction having the same response,since the movement tol the branch opposite tha-t corresponding tov theoperative position is obtained by means of one of said sid'es. Thus eachpushing action on the button will attain a diierent action of reversemotion.

A device of such nature isy applicable to many uses, since it is sosimple, in construction that it may be used for securing any movable.member intended to assume more than one position, the. device beingparticularly adaptable toy pushbuttons or the like.

The system was tested in. connection with re,- tractile pens and pencilsof the push-button type, switch buttons and other slidable members, in amost successiul manner, both as regards. a. safe locking action and aneiective release, and since it aords .a hrm lock inthe operativeposition, it, may be submitted to. pressure withoutdanger of undesiredrelease.,

Apartfrom the, above, the invention, contemplates other objects, amongwhich may be cited that of providing a locking device which will notcomplicate or render unduly expensive the mechanism to which it isapplied.

A further object is to render the handling of control buttons morepractical,V since the releasing eect will respond to the action in the.same pushing direction, whereby thev action in connection with diierentfunctions is always the same.

A further object is to provide push-buttons causing a change for eachaction, without complicating the construction of the apparatus or deviceto which itis applied.

A still further object is to allow the production of ball-tip pens ofthe retractile type at a low cost, since as regards the lockingmechanism, it only comprises a simple guide associated with a pin on theopposite part with which the relative movement takes place.

Other objects and advantages of the. invention will become apparent inthe course of the following description. In order that the invention maybe more clearly understoodand. readily carried out, several preferredembodiments and applications thereof have. been illustrated by way ofexampl'e in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is` a View, sectional in part, of the assembled locking device,showing the guide which in this instance is provided in the button orslidable member, whereas the pin is provided on the xed part, i.V e.,the part serving as a guide for said button or sliding member;

Fig. 2 is a view showing the manner in which the device is taken apart,i. e., by moving the push-button to an intermediate position and'turn-ing same so that the button will move out of the device through anoutwardlyl directed branch.

Fig. 3 is a View showing the mannerwhich the buttonis released from thepin.

Fig. 4" shows the devicein the inoperative posi-y tion caused by thetension of the spring heid-ing the button projected position.

Fig. 5v shows in dotted lines the push position preceding the lockingposition, the latter being shown in full lines.

Fig. 6 shows the manner which the lock is released, by' pressing thebutton from the lowest dotted line to the full-line position and thenreleasing the button so that the spring' carryA same to thehighestdotted line position.

Fig. 7: shows; the. device as. applied: to@ a retractile writinginstrument, illustrating the lzrslanner.x in which the slider and buttontlfierecn` serve as a base for the ink reservoir and writing tip, whichin its. inoperative position (fuli: lines), is held within theinstrument barrel, whereas when the 3 button is pushed, the assemblywill move to the dotted-line position in which it is held due to thelocking action established between the pin and the guide angle.

Fig. 8 is a view of the device as applied to an electric switch, showingthe inoperative position thereof in full lines, and the circuit-closingposition in dotted lines; and

Fig. 9 shows a modified embodiment of the device, wherein the slider isprovided with the pin, while the xed portion comprises the guide inwhich the pin is adapted to slide.

The same reference characters are used to indicate like or correspondingparts or elements throughout the drawings.

As shown in the drawings, the reference character a is the guideconstituting the xed element of the device, and b indicates the slidercomprising the movable part slidably arranged in said guide.

As mentioned above, the slider b is urged towards the inoperativeposition by means of a spring I, and as may be seen, the locking meansis obtained through the combination of a pin 2 and the shape of aguideway c which is cardioid.

Said guideway c has an apex 3 corresponding to the inoperative positionof slider b; this apex 3 is displaced with respect to the apex 4 of thecentral portion 5 which is a raised portion forming the inner edges ofguideway c, said edges being at an equivalent level with respect to theouter edges of the channel formed by said guideway.

Due to said displacement of the apex 3 with respect to apex 4, upondisplacing the slider the apex 3 will correspond with a striking edge 6,so that the pin 2, after striking against said edge 6, will engage thebranch 1, corresponding to the forward movement and terminating in anangle c' formed by a striking edge 8 and an apex 9 which is displacedwith respect to the apex I of the central portion 5. If the slider b isreleased after having been moved to the position shown in dotted linesin Fig. 5, instead of returning by the branch I the pin 2 will strikethe edge II of said central portion 5, said edge I I terminating in anelbow I2 engaged by pin 2. Thus, said elbow I2 constitutes the lockingmeans proper, since it will determine the operative position of saidslider, shown in full lines in Fig. 5.

As shown, the elbow I2 is displaced beyond the line corresponding to theapex I3, so that in the position shown in Fig. 5, if the slider b isagain pressed, the pin 2 will abut against the striking edge I4, wherebysaid pin 2 will -be moved to the apex I5 with which an angle cl isformed. Said apex I5 is displaced with respect to the apex I5 of thecentral portion 5, so that if the slider b is released in this position(shown in full lines in Fig. 6) the spring I will return the assembly tothe inoperative position. In effect, after assuming the position shownin full lines in Fig. 6, the pin will slide in the return channel Ilending at the apex II, i. e., the slider b will pass to the positionshown in dotted lines in Fig. 6, which is equivalent to the initialposition in Fig. 4.

Therefore, with the device in the inoperative position shown in Fig. 4,in order to move same to the operative position it will be sufficient topush said slider b until the apex 9 strikes against the pin 2 (dottedlines in Fig. 5) as upon releasing said slider the spring I will causethe pin 2 to lock in said elbow I2 (full lines in Fig. 5).

The slider b may be held in this position as long as desired without anydanger of being released accidentally, since the spring I will excludeany possibility of deflection of the pin, rendering the lock highlyeffective.

In order to return the device to the inoperative position, it will besufficient to again push the slider b to bring same to the positionshown in full lines in Fig. 6, whereupon it is released. and directed tothe return path I1, so that the spring I will cause the pin 2 tocoincide with the apex 3 (shown in Fig. 4 and in dotted lines in Fig.6).

The same relative result is obtained both when the guideway c is in theslider b and the pin in the guide a (Figs. 1 to 8) and in the oppositecase, viz., when the guideway c is constituted in the guide a and thepin 2 corresponds to the slider b, as in the embodiment shown in Fig. 9.In this latter case, upon pushing the slider b, the pin 2, from saidapex 3 will strike against the striking edge 6 and subsequently againstthe striking edge 8, ending at the apex 9 of angle c. Upon releasingsaid slider b, the spring I will cause same to abut against the edge II,directing same to the elbow I2, where it will remain locked in a mannersimilar to the embodiment shown in Fig. 5. In order to return the deviceto the inoperative position, the slider b is again pushed, so that afterabutting against the edge I4 and reaching the apex I5 of angle c, itwill engage the return channel I1, returning to the starting pointconstituted by the apex 3.

The device of this invention may assume various forms in accordance withthe different applications thereof, but preferably the slider b shouldproject in the form of a button I8 so that it may be actuated by hand.

When the device described above is used in connection with a writing penor pencil as in the example shown in Fig. 7, the guide a will form thebarrel I9 of the writing instrument, which is tubular and houses areservoir 2B secured to said slider b, so that the reservoir,terminating in a writing tip 2|, will form a slidable unit with saidslider b and tip 2I.

The spring I, bearing on a seat 22, will hold the full line orinoperative position wherein the apex 3 coincides with the pin 2; inthis position, the writing tip 2I will be retracted within the housingI9 constituted by a tapering of said tubular body or barrel I9; saidhousing I9 has a hole 23 through which said tip 2I' may slide to theoperative position shown in dotted lines.

In order to set the instrument for writing, the button I8 is pushed, sothat the slider will move to the lowest dotted-line position in Fig. 5,whereby from the apex 9 the pressure of spring I will direct same so asto establish a locking engagement in elbow I2, as shown in full lines inFig. 5 and in dotted lines in Fig. 7.

With the unit constituted by slider b thus retained, the instrumentshown in Fig. '7 will remain ready for writing, as firmly as if the tip2I were xed to the housing I9.

In order to retract the tip 2| it will be suih.

cient to push the button I8 as shown by the black arrow in Fig. 6; afterassuming the position shown in full lines in Fig. 6, the slider b willremain free to recede to the position shown in dotted lines in the sameFig. 6, which is equivalent to the position shown in Fig. 4.

The slider b, also with a button I8, may have a stem 24, for example inthe case of a switch as shown in Fig. 8. Said stem 24 is joined to acontact member 25 bridging the conductors 26 and 21, either directly asshown schematically in Fig. 8, or through any other means known in theart.

In this application of Fig. 8, the pushing of button I8 will attain theoperative position indicated in dotted lines, and it will be sufficientto again push the button I 8 as shown in Fig. 6 to return the device tothe inoperative position.

'Ihe device can be readily assembled and taken apart, since the branch ihas a by-pass 28 terminating in a further branch 29 leading out at theend of slider b.

With these means, it will be sumcient to bring the slider b to anintermediate position so that the by-pass 28 will coincide with pin 2,whereby said pin will engage the by-pass 28, as shown in Fig. 2; furtheroperation will direct said pin 2 to the branch 29 so as to release theslider, as shown in Fig. 3.

With these same means but in the opposite order, the device may bcassembled again. The pin 2 is caused to engage branch 29, so that byinserting the slider it will reach the by-pass 28, and by rotating theslider b, the pin 2 will again engage the guideway c'.

It is evident that in carrying out the invention, several modifications,changes and/0r alterations Will occur to those skilled in the art,Without departing from the scope of the inverntion as clearly set forthin the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A locking device compr g; two at least partially telescoped membersovable longitudinally and rotatably relative to each other, spring meanscontinuously tending to displace said members relative to each other inone direction, one of said members having a continuous groove formedtherein and facing the other of said members to denne a box cam betweena raised inner cardioid portion and an outer cardioid wall, said innercardioid portion being offset relative to said outer cardioid Wall atright angles to said one direction, and means on said other memberengaging in said continuous groove.

2. A locking device according to claim 1; wherein said continuous grooveis formed in the outer surface of the inner one of said members, andsaid means engaging in the groove includes a pin xed to the outer one ofsaid members and projecting inwardly from the inner surface thereof intosaid groove.

3. A locking device according to claim 1; wherein said continuous grooveis formed in the inner surface of the outer one of said members, andsaid means engaging in the groove includes a pin fixed to the inner oneof said members and projecting outwardly from the outer surface thereofinto said groove.

4. A locking device according to claim 1; wherein said one directionextends parallel to the axis of relative rotational movement of saidmembers.

5. A locking device according to claim 4; wherein said outer cardioidWall includes a rst apex situated at the end oi said groove away fromsaid vone direction, said groove having two branches diverging from saidrst apex in said one direction of relative axial movement and said outercardioid wall further having two apices at the ends of said branchesremote from said rst apex and a V-shaped portion joining said twoapices.

6. A locking device according to claim 5; said raised inner portionincludes an apex corresponding to said rst apex and oiset relative tothe latter in one direction of relative rotation of said members, and anotch portion corresponding to said V-shaped portion of the outer walland offset relative to the latter in said one direction of relativerotation of said members.

CARLOS FEDERICO ENRIQUE GrOOS` References Cited in the le of this patentUNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 735,531 Lacey Aug. 4, 1903828,920 Brandt Aug. 21, 1906 1,352,889 Gallo et al Sept. 14, 19201,732,577 Durdin Oct. 22, 1929 1,775,068 Debenedetti Sept. 2, 1930FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 303,603 Great Britain Jan. 10, 1929

